Barroso expresses concern over Ukraine situation

BRUSSELS, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Friday spoke in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed deep concern over the current situation in Ukraine.

"These are in complete contradiction with the efforts made by the European Union to bring about diplomatic and pragmatic solutions to issues such as the implementation of the Association Agreement and energy relations between Russia and Ukraine," a statement released by the Commission said.

According to the statement, the two leaders talked in a very frank exchange of views.

Barroso expressed "his firm condemnation of the evidence of significant incursions into and operations on Ukrainian soil by Russian military units".

Barroso urged Putin to revert the current path, stressing that it is difficult to continue to argue for engagement when confronted with the recurrent escalation of the conflict, the statement said.

"There were earlier reports about the satellite images showing Russian troops movement. As it turned out, these were snaps of computer games. The latest accusations are of that kind," the Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as saying.